NY—Tesseract Theatre (John Pinckard, Artistic Director), Mark Hartman,
and Brian J. Nash will present the world premiere of the
cult hit Silence! The Musical as part of the ninth New
York International Fringe Festival, which will run from August 12th to August 28th.
The show's press release states that, "Composed by brothers Jon and Al Kaplan and directed and choreographed
by multiple Lortel Award winner Christopher Gattelli (Altar Boyz, Bat
Boy: the Musical), the musical is an unauthorized parody of the iconic
1991 Oscar-winning film, The Silence of the Lambs. As in the movie,
rookie FBI agent Clarice Starling must match wits with the brilliant
but insane cannibal Dr. Hannibal Lecter to catch the man behind a
string of gruesome kidnappings and murders, known only as "Buffalo
Bill." Not as in the movie, the action is narrated by a Greek chorus of
lambs, and everyone breaks out into cheerful showtunes about the most
horrific of subjects.The production will feature all of the songs found on the popular website for the show, www.silencethemusical.com,
as well as new numbers for Clarice, Dr. Chilton, and other characters,
previously unheard anywhere. The book has been adapted from the parody
screenplay also by the songwriting brothers Jon and Al Kaplan."
Director Christopher Gattelli recently won the 2005 Lucille Lortel
Award for Outstanding Choreography for his work on the current
Off-Broadway smash Altar Boyz. As choreographer, his other credits
include Bat Boy: The Musical, for which he also won the Lortel Award,
the Off-Broadway and West End productions of tick, tick…BOOM!, and
Papermill Playhouse's recent staging of The Baker's Wife. As
director/choreographer, he most recently helmed last fall's all-star
Broadway concert of Hair. Gattelli is joined by music director Brian J.
Nash. Additional members of the production team are currently being
confirmed, and casting is underway.Jon
and Al Kaplan, two brothers struggling to break into Los Angeles'
competitive film composing industry, wrote Silence! The Musical as a labor of love in 2003. At first a diversion, the songs made their way online. Aided by
enthusiastic word of mouth and a mention on Entertainment Weekly's Must
List, the music has acquired a strong cult following. The FringeNYC
production marks the first time the piece will receive a production of
any kind.
Venues for individual shows in this year's FringeNYC have not been
announced yet. Tickets, priced at $15, will go on sale July 30, 2005 at www.FringeNYC.org, or at (212) 279-4488 or 1.888.FringeNYC. For more information, visit www.FringeNYC.org or www.silencethemusical.com.
